Date/Time: Thursday, September 11, 2014
Location: Rescue Bay, east end of Jackson Passage in Mathieson Channel Weather: High overcast, calm
Plan: Shearwater tomorrow, weather permitting
Today was an easy day, except for the anchor windlass switch that decided to give up the ghost as we were retrieving the anchor from 90 feet. It’s been a long time since Barb and I pulled the rode in hand over hand. So we found ourselves wishing that we had anchored in shallower water, and that we had something less than 70 feet of chain adding to the weight of the anchor.
Nevertheless, we got underway about 0930 hours and caught the tide just right at Jackson Narrows. Since Rescue Bay is the best anchorage in the area, we thought we’d try it out. We anchored at about 1440 hours (in shallower water) and gave Elsie some great play and swimming time on the beach.
Some of the remarkable observations of the day included whales, dolphins, eagles, fish farms, and helicopter logging in Jackson Narrows. It’s impressive to watch a Sikorski Sky Crane lift three trees at a time out of the woods, and then drop them into the water where they are rafted for transportation to the mill. We got a few photos. Also remarkable is the style of logging: They’re not clear cutting large tracts of timber any more. Rather, they are cutting small irregular shapes out of the forest that will not be noticed by the average tourist when they green up in a couple of years.
Tomorrow we will get an early start to take advantage of favorable current conditions in Percival Narrows (the south end of Mathieson Channel.) We’ll take a shortcut through Reid Passage which cuts off part of the transit of Milbank Sound. If all goes well, we will be at Shearwater tomorrow night for a hot shower, dinner out, and a new anchor windlass switch.
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